Corrugated bowl lining for vibrators



Oct. 26, 1965 P. H. SETZLER CORRUGATED BOWL LINING FOR VIBRATORS INVENTOR. Paul H. .S'eigler BY @Q W Filed July 18. 1961 ke FIG. 3

United States Patent 3,213,568 CORRUGATED BOWL LINING FOR VIBRATORS Paul H. Setzler, York, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Wh'eelabrator Corporation, Mishawaka, Ind., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 18, 1961, Ser. No. 124,960 9 Claims. (Cl. 517) This invention relates to a machine for the precision finishing of parts by controlled vibration of a container in which said parts and finishing media are housed for interaction induced therebetween by the vibrational movement of the container and it relates more particularly to a method and means for handling parts and media subjected to vibratory treatment for cleaning and/ or producing a desired finish on the surfaces of said parts.

In US. Patent No. 2,973,606, issued March 7, 1961, and entitled Machine for Precision Finishing of Parts by Controlled Vibration, and in the co-pending applications Ser. No. 641,399, filed February 20, 1957, and entitled Method and Apparatus for Precision Finishing of Parts and Objects by Controlled Vibration, now Patent No. 2,997,813, issued August 29, 1961, and Ser. No. 730,387, filed April 23, 1958, and entitled Machine for Precision Finishing of Parts by Controlled Vibration, now Patent No. 2,997,814, issued August 29, 1961, description is made of a device having a bowl open at the top and resiliently supported within a cradle for vibratory movement relative thereto responsive to a cylinder supported from the bottom side of the bowl and eccentrically mounted for rotational movement about a horizontally disposed axis aligned lengthwise with the center of the bowl. Rotational movement of the eccentrically mounted cylinder imparts a type of vibratory movement to the bowl whereby the parts and media housed therein move more or less in an elliptical path circumferentially about the bowl, in a plane substantially crosswise of the bowl or axis of the cylinder, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 3.

While the aforementioned patent and patent applications define a construction wherein the cradle in which the bowl is resiliently supported is capable of rocking movement between an upright position and a tilted position within a frame for introducing the media and parts when in upright position and for dumping the media and parts when in tilted position, it will be understood that the concepts of the invention hereinafter described will be applicable to bowls mounted for vibratory movement in a cradle fixed to the frame to form a part thereof and incapable of movement between upright and tilted positions.

While the machine described operates efiiciently and effectively in the finishing of parts, it has been found that further improvement can be made in the efficiency and effectiveness of the operation by construction of the bowl with a corrugated inner surface and preferably wherein the corrugations are arranged to extend substantially parallel with the flow of the parts and media responsive to the vibrational movements of the bowl.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to produce a machine of the type described which is simple in construction and easy in operation, and which embodies improvements in the Vibratory bowl construction wherein the functional characteristics of the machine are markedly improved, and it is a related object to provide an improvement in a bowl construction for use with a vibratory machine of the type described.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will hereinafter appear and, for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, an embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a bowl embodying the features of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevational view taken substantially along the line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1 showing in addition the associated vibrating means.

Referring now to the drawings, illustration is made of the bowl 10 of the vibrator wherein the bowl is open at the top 12 and is of substantially rectangular shape having vertically disposed side walls 14 and 16, vertically disposed end walls 18 and 20, and a curvilinear bottom wall section 22 which is substantially of hemispherical shape. The element by which the .bowl is vibrated is shown as an elongate cylinder 24 eccentrically mounted upon a rotatable shaft 26 for rotational movement about an axis which extends in lengthwise alignment with about the center of the bowl between the side walls and beneath the curvilinear bottom wall. The shaft is suspended from the bottom side of the bowl whereby rota tional movement of the shaft in the direction indicated by the arrows in FIG. 3 will impart a type of elliptical movement to the bowl whereby the parts and media loaded therein will move or roll in a somewhat circular direction crosswise of the bowl, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 3.

The bowl is preferably formed of an outer metal shell 28 with a replaceable lining 30 wherein the latter is preferably formed of a rubber-like material or other material characterized by the ability to impart high friction against relative movement of the parts and media. However, the lining can also be formed of a metal.

It has been found that when the inner surface of the bowl or lining is in the form of a smooth, flat surface, the parts tend to cling to the surface in a manner which interferes with the desired roll or movement of the media and parts for uniform exposure of all of the surfaces of the parts to the finishing treatment. The improvement embodying the features of this invention resides in the construction whereby the inner surfaces of the bowl or lining are in the form of corrugated surfaces having a series of spaced-apart corrugations 32 extending throughout the side and bottom walls of the bowl or lining, and preferable also, but not necessarily, in the end walls of the bowl. For reasons which will hereinafter be pointed out, it will be preferred to arrange the corrugations 32 in the side and bottom walls to run from side to side, crosswise of the bowl and in the direction parallel with the rolling movement or flow of media and parts during the vibrational movement of the bowl. When corrugations are employed in the end walls, it is also preferable to form the corrugation of curvilinear shape with the center of curvature corresponding substantially to the center of the curvature of the bottom portion of the bowl. In the preferred modification, illustrated more clearly in FIG. 3, the center of curvature will fall between the top and bottom edges of the end walls so that the corrugations will appear in the form of a series of radially spaced-apart circular corrugations of increasing diameter.

A number of unexpected advantages are derived from the construction wherein the surfaces of the bowl in contact with the media and parts are formed with a series of corrugations.

The periodically spaced corrugations eliminate flat surfaces to which the parts can cling. As a result, more uniform flow of media and parts is achieved whereby all of the surfaces of the parts are subjected to a more uniform exposure to the media for treatment.

The spaced corrugations operate to space the parts from the adjacent walls of the bowl whereby media can find its way between the parts and the walls of the bowl to maintain the parts within the fluid stream of media 3 thereby to keep the parts in constant movement within the bowl.

With the corrugations running parallel to the flow of media and parts, as in the preferred construction, the ridges or exposed surfaces of the corrugations are not exposed to such engagement with the parts and media as will accelerate their wear on the lining. As a result, the corrugated lining or bowl will enjoy a longer and more useful life before requiring replacement or repair.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that the concepts of this invention are capable of development in vibratory bowls of other shapes having corrugated inner surfaces. It will be evident that many of the features described can be obtained with corrugated surfaces wherein the corrugations run in a direction differing from the direction of the flow of the media and parts, but that further advantages and efficiencies in operation and use are derived when the corrugations on the surface run in the direction of flow of the material.

It will be understood that further changes may be made in the details of construction, arrangement, and operation without departing from the spirit of the invention, especially as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a vibratory machine for the finishing of parts by the vibration of said parts in contact with media, a bowl for retaining said parts and said media, means resiliently mounting the bowl for vibratory movement, and means for imparting vibratorymovement to the bowl whereby the media and parts therein flow generally in one path about the bowl, the improvement comprising a plurality of spaced corrugations lining the inner surfaces of the bowl and extending on both sides of the bowl in a direction parallel to the flow of media and parts within the bowl during vibratory movement.

2. In a vibratory machine for the finishing of parts by vibration while in contact with media, a bowl for retaining said parts and said media, means resiliently mounting the bowl for vibratory movement, and means for imparting vibratory movement to the bowl whereby the media and parts flow down one side, across the bottom, up the opposite side and back across the top of the bowl, the improvement wherein the inner surface of the bowl is formed with a plurality of spaced corrugations extending vertically in the sides and across the bottom between the sides.

3. In a vibratory machine for the finishing of parts by the vibration of said parts in contact with media, a bowl for retaining said parts and said media, means resiliently mounting the bowl for vibratory movement, and means for imparting vibratory movement to the bowl whereby the media and parts therein flow generally in one path about the bowl, the improvement wherein the bowl comprises an outer housing formed of a structurally strong material and an inner lining, the inner surface of which is formed with a plurality of closely spaced apart corrugations extending on both sides of the bowl in a direction parallel to the flow of media and parts within the bowl during vibratory movement.

4. In a vibratory machine for the finishing of parts by vibration while in contact with media, a bowl for retaining said parts and said media, means resiliently mounting the bowl for vibratory movement, and means for imparting vibratory movement to the bowl whereby the media and parts flow down one side, across the bottom, up the opposite side and back across the top of the bowl, the improvement wherein the bowl comprises an outer metal shell and an inner replaceable lining the inner surface of which is formed with a plurality of closely spaced apart corrugations extending Vertically in the side walls of the bowl and across the bottom wall of the bowl to interconnect the corrugations in the side walls.

5. In a vibratory machine for the finishing of parts, a housing of rectangular shape open at the top and having vertically disposed side and end walls and a bottom wall which extends curvilinearly between the side walls to define a bowl in which the parts and finishing media can be introduced for processing, means resiliently supporting the bowl for vibratory movement, means which impart vibratory movement to the bowl whereby the parts and media flow generally in a direction down one side of the bowl, across the bottom, and up the opposite side of the bowl, the improvement wherein the inner surfaces of the bowl are formed with a series of closely spaced apart corrugations extending generally in a direction parallel with the flow of the parts and media during vibratory movement of the bowl.

6. In a vibratory machine for the finishing of parts, a housing of rectangular shape open at the top and having vertically disposed side and end walls and a bottom wall which extends curvilinearly between the side walls to define a bowl in which the parts and finishing media can be introduced for processing, means resiliently supporting the bowl for vibratory movement, means which impart vibratory movement to the bowl whereby the parts and media flow generally in a direction down one side of the bowl, across the bottom, and up the opposite side of the bowl, the improvement wherein the inner surfaces of the bowl are formed with a series of closely spaced apart corrugations extending vertically in the side walls and crosswise between the side walls in the bottom wall.

7. A vibratory machine as claimed in claim 6, which includes corrugations in the end walls extending curvilinearly about a center located in an intermediate portion of the end walls.

8. A vibratory machine as claimed in claim 6, in which the bowl is formed of an outer shell of a structurally strong material and an inner replaceable lining and in which the corrugations are arranged in the inner surfaces of said lining.

9. A vibratory machine as claimed in claim 6 which includes corrugations in the end walls, said last mentioned corrugations defining a series of concentric corrugations of increasing diameter.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 878,363 2/08 Doggwyler 517 1,099,985 6/ 14 Lamb 51163 2,222,777 11/40 Linke 51--163 2,973,606 3/61 Brandt 51163 FOREIGN PATENTS 675,643 7/52 Great Britain.

859,215 1/ 61 Great Britain.

LESTER M. SWINGLE, Primary Examiner.

FRANK BRONAUGH, J. SPENCER OVERHOLSER,

Examiners. 

1. IN A VIBRATORY MACHINE FOR THE FINISHING OF PARTS BY THE VIBRATION OF SAID PARTS IN CONTACT WITH MEDIA, A BOWL FOR RETAINING SAID PARTS AND SAID MEDIA, MEANS RESILIENTLY MOUNTING THE BOWL FOR VIBRATORY MOVEMENT, AND MEANS FOR IMPARTING VIBRATORY MOVEMENT TO THE BOWL WHERENY THE MEDIA AND PARTS THEREIN FLOW GENERALLY IN ONE PATH ABOUT THE BOWL, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF SPACED CORROUGATIONS LINING THE INNER SURFACES OF THE BOWL AND EXTENDING ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BOWL IN A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO THE FLOW OF MEDIA AND PARTS WITHIN THE BOWL DURING VIBRATORY MOVEMENT. 